EVANSVILLE, Ind. — There was a breathless quality to the national news reports, sometimes billed as live updates, that rocketed across the country Friday afternoon. Congress might fail to fund the federal government, hung up over disagreements about immigration and spending.

Late Friday night, those reports appeared to come to fruition as the midnight deadline passed without a spending deal in place.

But the first government shutdown since 2013 shouldn't have much impact on area residents -- unless it goes on for weeks.

Social Security checks and military paychecks will continue to go out — in the short term. U.S. Postal Service operations should be uninterrupted. Federal courts and veterans agencies will carry on largely as before.

But if the politicians can't settle the thing quickly — that's when the trouble could start.

8th District Rep. Larry Bucshon's office said the U.S. Department of Defense has advised Congress that all active duty service members would continue to report for duty but would not be paid until funding comes through. But that's only if a shutdown lasted longer than a few days.

"If it's 24 hours, it's not going to have any effect. If it's 48 hours, it's not going to have any effect," said Andrew Hansen, a spokesman for Bucshon in Washington, D.C. "Barring some sort of two-, three-week situation, the likely outcome is they continue to get paid because the government will be funded before it comes time."

The U.S. Social Security Administration did not respond to questions about local operations, pointing instead to its national contingency plan, which notes "extended availability of our program integrity funds through March 2018." Hansen said Bucshon's office believes Social Security checks would not be delayed.

"Based on past experiences, they should continue to be paid," he said.

Federal courts — U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young presides in Evansville — is be expected to run smoothly for weeks in the event of a shutdown.

"We have alternate sources of funding other than our traditional money that we receive from Congress. We've been told to say an estimate of two or three weeks that we would be able to remain open without any interruption to our operations before we would have to start thinking about cutting services — so trials and proceedings would continue as they've been scheduled; our doors would be open; we'd be fully staffed," said federal courts spokeswoman Alison Chestovich.

"But we will be open Monday, serving the public as we always are," Chestovich said.

Chestovich added a personal reflection.

"I would like to keep getting my paycheck for at least the indeterminate future," she said, with a laugh.

Susan Wright, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service, said all Post Offices "will remain open for business as usual."

"Because we are an independent entity that is funded through the sale of our products and services, and not by tax dollars, our services will not be impacted by a government shutdown," Wright said in a prepared statement.

But the postal spokeswoman also had a personal observation.

"I'll be here Monday, if you need to talk to me — so there," she said with a laugh. "I won't be shut down."

Asked about the Veterans Center and VA Health Center in Evansville, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs spokesman sent a statement saying the Veterans Health Administration "received advance appropriations for Fiscal Year 2018 as part of the 2017 Budget."

"So in the event of a government shutdown, VHA would continue full operations," it stated.

The statement confirmed a report from Bucshon's spokesman — even with a shutdown, "95.5 percent of VA employees would come to work, and most aspects of VA’s operations would not be impacted."